First Madam thought carefully—sometimes family background and upbringing were truly of paramount importance. Although Second Sister-in-law Cui Zhanmei had a gentle and agreeable temperament, she had never made mistakes in welcoming guests, seeing them off, or managing social relations. The parents-in-law above were satisfied, and even Wang Jinsi below couldn’t find fault with her, often loving to visit her chambers for conversation…

In comparison, herself, Yun Shi, and Li Shi who came later were indeed inferior in many respects. In terms of vision and knowledge alone, they were far behind…

She sighed, suddenly feeling that her insistence on finding a niece from her maternal family for Song Jue would probably have plenty of worrying aspects in the future. Her heart felt heavy, and she instantly understood Old Madam Song’s helplessness with sudden clarity.

She nodded and collected her emotions, taking on this matter. “Speaking of which, Third Sister-in-law has been back for so long, yet I truly haven’t had a proper chat with her. I’ll go find her later when I have time.”

No matter what, in the matter of raising children, she had proven qualified. Of the several she raised, except for Second Daughter who was a taciturn gourd, the others were all good children. But Yun Shi was ultimately too indulgent with her children—Song Chumi was raised rather selfishly, and Song Yue’s temperament also wasn’t very good…

Calculating, the Old Master probably still had at least another ten years before retiring, and he was still strong and healthy. With parents alive, the family wouldn’t divide. The Song family would at least remain undivided for the next dozen years or so. If the third branch caused any trouble in the future, their first branch wouldn’t have any good fruit to eat either.

First Madam had already thoroughly grasped this principle by now.

Seeing she understood, Old Madam Song felt much less vexed. She nodded and also instructed her, “Little Yi will only return tomorrow. Later, also send someone to check on Guanju Courtyard—don’t let those maids foolishly cause trouble.”

Song Chuyi had gone to Tongzhou early in the morning to celebrate the full month of Lianyi’s daughter, only returning the next day.

First Madam had previously felt that Old Madam Song and Old Master Song were truly too indulgent with Song Chuyi, but after the matter with Song Chumi, she felt she understood why Song Chuyi alone could receive such preferential treatment—such an excessively clever and resourceful child who was also very obedient and filial—anyone would love her.

Even she herself, didn’t she feel three parts grateful toward Song Chuyi because Song Chuyi never used the matter with Consort Song as leverage and never held grudges?

She nodded with a smile. “I’ve already sent Jin Ling to check. Ziyun is holding down the fort there, so those little maids won’t dare cause trouble. Speaking of which, I’ve also prepared several bolts of cloth for that child to make new clothes—I just don’t know if it will be too light a gift.”

What she gave was ramie cloth from Jiangxi suitable for summer wear, something that couldn’t be bought in the capital even with a thousand gold pieces nowadays. Old Madam Song laughed and shook her head. “Heavy enough. I remember you only received three bolts of this ramie cloth total, yet you gave it all to An’an. If you still think this too light, what would be weighty enough?”

“Originally wanted to send clothes I made myself, but was afraid of violating taboos. After all, we have one here who’s about to give birth.” Seeing Old Madam Song happy, First Madam hurriedly smiled. “Besides, although it’s a rare item, does our family lack things that could replace it? Since Little Yi values An’an, I as her eldest aunt should also give her face.”

Old Madam Song leaned her head against the backrest. The purple gold hand warmer in her hands gradually lost its warmth. She passed it to Yushu, nodded and pondered for a while, then shook her head. “So be it. Since Little Yi likes her, let her be. By the way, the palace sent word that this time they want us to bring Little Yi along.”

Hearing mention of the palace, First Madam immediately sat up properly, the smile on her face also restrained somewhat. She asked hesitantly, “But would it be bad for us to bring Little Yi in now?”

Although Empress Dowager Rongxian’s teeth had been pulled and she was said to be in a daze all day, she was still an old tiger after all…

Speaking of which, First Madam was extremely curious about these old matters—by rights, although Emperor Jianzhang was the eldest son, Prince Tai held the legitimate son’s status. Why did Emperor Chenghua obstinately insist on establishing Emperor Jianzhang? And the Empress Dowager and Prince Tai clearly were also not content, otherwise the later incident of Prince Tai forcing the palace wouldn’t have occurred…

Emperor Jianzhang had truly shown benevolence and righteousness to the Empress Dowager to the utmost. After all, as long as he made some slight manipulations in Prince Tai’s matter, Empress Dowager Rongxian as Prince Tai’s birth mother would have been finished. How could she still be alive and kicking until now?

“Princess Imperial Shijia has already gone, and Empress Dowager Rongxian has lost half her life—she has no mind to bite people anymore.” Old Madam Song’s gaze was indifferent, the corners of her mouth slightly downturned when mentioning Empress Dowager Rongxian. “Since Consort Song wants to see Little Yi, taking her there is no problem.”

After all, this time they had helped the Empress and Crown Princess with such a great favor—these two would show some consideration for this favor no matter what. Consort Song probably also saw this point clearly before making such a request.

Emperor Jianzhang feared Empress Dowager Rongxian and always remained grateful for her decades of nurturing grace because, after all, from the moment he opened his eyes he had believed this woman was his mother.

But the Empress was not like this. She had watched with her own eyes how Empress Dowager Rongxian used Emperor Jianzhang’s trust and guilt to gradually devour the Lu family completely. To expect her to be like Emperor Jianzhang and always retain lingering affection for Empress Dowager Rongxian no matter what—that was truly too difficult.

Moreover, this time Empress Dowager Rongxian had even extended her hand to the Crown Prince and Grand Prince—at least the Empress and Crown Princess both believed this to be so.

Having finally made Emperor Jianzhang determined, how could they possibly allow Empress Dowager Rongxian a chance to catch her breath? Of course they would trample her down firmly. Old Madam Song even felt that Empress Dowager Rongxian being suspended in this half-dead, half-alive state was probably the Empress’s intention. Otherwise, with Empress Dowager Rongxian’s temperament, upon learning of Princess Imperial Shijia’s death, she should have already followed Princess Imperial Shijia and Prince Tai long ago, not continued to remain in this world suffering—before, she at least still had the Empress Dowager’s title pressing down on the Empress. Now she had nothing left. For such a proud person, it would be strange if she could endure this grievance.

Since Old Madam Song had said so, First Madam naturally had no objections. Speaking of which, these past two months on the first and fifteenth, only Old Madam Song had entered the palace alone. She had long wanted to personally enter the palace to see her daughter but never dared mention it to Old Madam Song. Now that Old Madam Song said she should enter the palace together, she was already overjoyed beyond measure and naturally didn’t dare have opinions about other matters.

Old Madam Song was somewhat tired. Seeing matters were mostly explained, she nodded at First Madam. First Madam understood, quietly and gently withdrawing, letting out a long breath of relief.

The previous matter had always been a chasm lying between her and Old Madam Song. Now that Old Madam Song clearly no longer minded, she naturally felt much more relaxed.